Technical analysis of the stock market, or any other market such as Forex, Bonds, Futures, is how most traders and investors make their trading decisions. This is as opposed to fundamental analysis which most people more agree is pretty much done as a way of making trading decisions, unless of course you are Warren Buffet!.

You only have to think back to recent Stock Market scams like Enron to know that it is almost impossible for the average, and even very sophisticated fund manager or hedge fund trader to really know what the real financial state of a company is.

Beginning forex traders sometimes will get confused with the various chart forms and trying to determine which one is the best and most relevant to use. There are essentially three different chart forms that traders use to analyze the market. They are the standard bar chart, the candlestick chart, and the line chart. Bar charts are the most simple and easy to understand and are likely the most widely used chart form. Candlesticks charts are based in Japanese trading history and provide a better visual representation of price action than do bar or line charts, that being said, some people still prefer the bar chart over the candlestick chart. Line charts are often used on financial media outlets such as CNBC or your nightly news to show a general overview of the recent price movement on a specific stock index, commodity, or currency.